Lightning News

LIGHTNING ACQUIRE KYLE WANVIG, STEPHEN BABY FROM ATLANTA

by
Staff Writer
/ Tampa Bay Lightning

The Tampa Bay Lightning have acquired right wings Kyle Wanvig and Stephen Baby from the Atlanta Thrashers in exchange for defenseman Andy Delmore and right wing Andre Deveaux today, Executive Vice President and General Manager Jay Feaster announced.

Wanvig, a 6-foot-2, 210-pound native of Calgary, Alberta, has played in 64 career NHL games, all with the Minnesota Wild. He has scored five career goals with nine career assists including one power play goal. His best season came in 2005-06 when he appeared in 51 games with the Wild and scored four goals with 12 points.

He has played 26 games with the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League this season and scored 10 goals while dishing out 11 assists. Wanvig has scored four of his goals on the power play. Entering this season he had played in 239 career AHL games and scored 57 goals with 113 points, all with the Houston Aeros. He also appeared in 37 playoff games with the Aeros and scored seven goals and recorded 15 points including four game winning goals. He also played on Houston with Lightning goaltender Johan Holmqvist when the netminder was named Calder Cup MVP and won the AHL Championship.

Wanvig, 26, played his junior career in the Western Hockey League where he played 266 games and scored 107 goals while registering 205 points. He was also named the 2001 Stafford Smythe Memorial Trophy recipient as the most valuable player of the Memorial Cup. He was selected by the Boston Bruins in the third round, 89th overall, in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft and was redrafted by Minnesota in the second round, 36th overall, at the 2001 NHL Entry Draft.

Baby (pronounced BAH-bee), a 6-5, 230-pound native of Chicago, Illinois, made his professional debut in 2003-04 with Chicago of the AHL and has since played in 179 games. During his AHL career he has scored 28 goals and dished out 32 assists. Baby has also appeared in 16 Calder Cup playoff games in his career and scored one goal while recording five points.

This season, Baby, 27, has played in eight games with the Wolves and scored one goal while recording two assists. He played his collegiate hockey at Cornell where he played in 134 games and scored 29 goals while recording 115 points. He served as the team captain for the 2001-02 and 2002-03 seasons and was the two-time ECAC Defensive Forward of the Year during those same seasons.

Baby was drafted by Atlanta in the seventh round, 188th overall, at the 1999 NHL Entry Draft.